Unemployment Chronicles, Day 88: Life Goes On

Some interesting job opportunities have emerged lately, although nothing definitive.  The two best possibilities right now are a temporary position with an insurance company that is still in the works after several contacts with Robert Half, and a permanent position my friend John sent me this morning that looks like a great fit.  Nothing sure, but the temporary position is at least nearing a decision.

Meanwhile, we are not really changing our activities much now that our source of income is gone.  We have cut back a little, and we did cancel a planned cruise to the Mediterranean, but in some ways we are acting like nothing ever happened:

• We got a new dog.  The one on the right in the picture above is Jackson, who has been with us a few years now.  The one on the left is Emmitt, who became ours as of Tuesday morning.  Emmitt, like Jackson, is a male boxer, about 80 pounds, and he is about one year older.  He is very good-natured, and the dogs get along well -- just a little snapping at each other to set some boundaries, so far.  Emmitt became available because a couple in our neighborhood is getting divorced, and neither of them can keep the dog.  We figured Jackson deserves a companion.  The dogs already spend almost all of their time together.
• Jackie bought a pistol, for target shooting.  That's a great thing to buy when you're unemployed, right?  I suppose we could take up lives of crime if the job search doesn't pan out.
• Despite skipping the cruise, we have done a fair amount of travelling.  Jarrod and I have been to California once already and will go again this month (although my brother bought the plane tickets), Lucas and I went to Boston for an archery tournament last weekend, Jackie and Lucas will go to Ohio for another tournament this month and then to Oklahoma and Texas to visit relatives, and the boys will go to Oregon with the Boy Scouts in July.  Lucas visited MIT while we were in Massachusetts, will visit UT Austin in Texas, and hopes to visit Berkeley and Stanford before the summer is out.

Besides the two jobs I mentioned, I have begun to get more feelers from different sources lately.  It seems that I have made myself known in enough places to generate a decent amount of interest.  Jackie is also preparing to go back into the work force.  Somehow, it will work out.